My Silence Ash Night Memories

I will die with my honor. The words echoed in my dreams. I sat up in my bed and looked around, dazed and confused that the words from my past so long ago had come back to haunt me. I will die with my faith. I gasped, frightened. I recognized the voice, but I dared not speak her name. I will die in war. I clutched my head, trying to banish my memories. I will die for peace. Silence took over when the memory subsided. I was breathing heavily, trying to go back to sleep. I went insane a few years ago. My mother had been a Japanese warrior, and my father had been a Japanese Demon Lord from Mount Morning. I had lived with my father for the first fourteen years of my life, but when he died, I moved in with my mom. Those words had been spoken by my mother just before she died. She died at the hands of the Gray Queen, a terrifying figure, the symbol of complete and utter evil. She died to protect me from the Gray Queen. I had been huddled right behind her, afraid for myself. I was a foolish six-year-old child, afraid of death and pain. The other Japanese warriors of my mother's tribe had always been taught to ignore pain. Their emotions and other feelings were beaten out of them before they reached maturity. My mother always protected me from being beaten, but the other Japanese always told her that she was spoiling me. But I wasn't spoiled. I could fight as well as any of them, but I was stronger, because I could hold my emotions at bay. They didn't have any. Anyway, my mother had sacrificed herself to the Gray Queen so that I could live. Her final words were the oath that all the warriors of her tribe took when they became professional warriors; "I will die with my honor. I will die with my faith. I will die in war. I will die for peace." I shook my head and slid off the bed, careful not to wake Arani, who was sleeping peacefully in the next room. She was a terribly adorable child, with her short, dark hair straight, her amethyst eyes closed, her pale face and hands glowing in the soft moonlight. I gave birth to her by one of the Gray Queen's most powerful minions. Back then, I was just a Power Slave (Power Slaves are only used to reproduce to create a being of greater power. Or, sometimes, they are used to fuel the Gray Queen). I was set free to raise Arani when they found that she could not use the power that her father gave her. She could only use my powers. She was three-fourths a Demon, because her father was a full-Demon, and I, her mother, am a half- Demon. Anyway, they only wanted her if she could use her father's powers to kill the Gray Queen's enemies, and my powers to heal herself and her comrades. They told me that if she does not show power by her eighth birthday, she and I will both be taken back as Power Slaves. If she does, she will become one of the Gray Queen's evil warriors, and I will return to being a Power Slave. But, her eighth birthday is in a few weeks, and she has shown no sign of power yet. Either way, I know what will happen to me. I just hope that she is spared power, so that she may not dishonor herself and be damned forever. I tried to turn away from my past, but it proved impossible. My mother's oath continued to whisper in the shadows of my bedroom. I hurried out into the kitchen, and it refused to follow. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I sighed and walked swiftly over and swung it open. I was extremely surprised to find my old friend, Shimo, a full-demon lord of the mountains. He knew my father and he fell in love with me. I loved him, but not in the same way. He was my best friend. But I couldn't see him as a boyfriend, or even the father of my next child. True, if I married him, our child would be the same as Arani, only good. Whoa, now. I'm not saying that Arani is evil. She's of evil demon blood, yeah, but her soul and spirit and will aren't in that business. Anyway, Shimo just showed up on our doorstep one morning. I knew he had been staying at a nearby hotel, but I was surprised he had come to see me. After all, I left him to be with Bryant, Arani's father. He had always hated Bryant. He sensed Bryant's dark blood, I guess. I couldn't sense. All I knew was, he was a demon. "Sakura!" Shimo cried, hugging me tight. I was surprised by this, too. When the hug was over, her backed up and looked me over. Now, I'm not much to look at, what with my being five feet tall, my hair long and blonde, and my eyes are a creepy crimson color. But he loves me anyway. "Sakura, come with me!" he said, looking me straight in the eye. I laughed nervously and shook my head. I gestured to Arani's bedroom. Shimo got the message. "But, Sakura, all you have to do is grab Arani, and we can all leave! If you and Arani stay here, Arani will either become a Power Slave or she will be damned by becoming one of the soulless Dark Warriors! Now, Sakura, I love you. And I love Arani. I love you both. You both are the only things that are important to me anymore. Arani deserves a better life than what she's expected to become, and you deserve to be more than a lowly Power Slave. I could turn you into a full-Demon, and Arani into a full-Demon. I could change her blood and energy to good, and we could live in the mountains." He sighed as I thought this over. "You know, you don't have to marry me. Just go in there and grab Arani and we can make a run for it. Arani needs a strong father figure. But Bryant isn't cut out to be her father. I'll pretend to be her father until she's grown. Then, she can know the truth." I smiled at him thankfully. "You can't pretend to be her father," I told him. His gaze flickered and he turned away, his face pale with sadness. I put my hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "You have to be her father," I told him. He turned around, his face bright with surprise and happiness. I turned and we went into Arani's bedroom. I shook her slowly, and she opened her eyes and looked up at me. "Mommy?" she whispered, her voice soft and meek. Shimo was staring at her intense, brilliant, violet eyes. I smiled as Shimo picked her up in his arms. She was beginning to get worried. "It's all right, Arani," I told her as we hurried out the front door. I had packed all of Arani's and my things as quickly as possible. I was carrying a suitcase with some of our clothes and personal belongings; the locket I gave to Arani when she was born, the pendant Shimo gave me when I married Bryant, and the robes that signified me as a Demon priestess of Japan. Shimo put his arm around me and, carrying both me and Arani, he leaped into the sky, up onto the roof. Then, he began jumping from roof to roof, his ninja sword hanging limply from his belt. You see, Shimo's a pretty handsome guy. He has really short, silver hair (most of the demon lords of Mount Night have really long hair) and glassy red eyes, like mine. He's tall, and he wears a long red robe. He's called Lord Shimoran, Demon of Fire. He has the symbol of Mars on his forehead. His sister, Lady Rona, is Demon of Water. She has really long blue hair, dark blue eyes, and she wears a long, dark blue robe. She has the symbol of Neptune. Lady Terrah, Demon of Ice, has long light blue hair, eyes of the same color, and she wears a long, light blue robe. She bears the mark of Mercury. Lord Farren is the Demon of Death. He has the symbol of Saturn, has black hair, black eyes, and a long black robe. Now, let me warn you, he is one freaky son of a bitch. He scares me a lot. Ladies Glenda, Mona, and Sirrena are pretty much the same. Glenda's the Demon of Earth, Mona's the Demon of Lightning, and Sirrena is the Demon of Time. Lords Harui and Konami are very different from the rest. They are the fruitiest bastards you will ever get the chance to meet. Harui is the Demon of Light, and Konami is the Demon of Love. All I do, is I just stay away from Harui and Konami. Of course, I may be wrong. Konami's a pretty cool kind of guy. But Harui is just plain fruity. He is a definite fruitcake. He never even touches any of the Ladies. Hopefully, he will leave Shimo alone, if Shimo's going to father and protect Arani. But Lord Farren is freaky. I hope he leaves me and Arani alone. He is way perverted. But, once I become a Lady of Mount Night, he will leave me alone. And once Arani becomes Shimo's daughter, he'll leave her alone too. I just hope.



Lords and Ladies

We arrived at Mount Night sometime late at night. Arani was already asleep, but Shimo was wide awake. He showed me to Arani's room, and we both put her to bed. He kissed her goodnight and tucked her in for the first time. Bryant had never been so loving toward her, so caring. So fatherly. Then Shimo and I went to bed. I was going to become a full-Demon in the morning, and Arani would become a full-Demon after me. We were going to become Shimo's family. It was too wonderful to believe, at first. I slept beside Shimo in our bed that night. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close, keeping me warm and safe. I smiled to myself as I fell asleep, falling into comforting silence and darkness.

In the middle of the night, I woke up to shouts and screams of alarm. There was a sound like a cannon exploding, and then one like a crash, and screaming. Shimo and I both ran to the window to see that some Dark Warriors, lead by Bryant and the Gray Queen, had attacked the Night Palace. The villagers were trying to salvage everything they could from the fires, while screaming and crying for the Lords and Ladies of the mountain to help them, to protect them. One group of Water-dwellers were huddled and cornered by a Warrior. Suddenly, Lady Rona, my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, leaped at the Warrior, forcing him to the ground. The mark of Neptune pulsed on her forehead. Then, Shimo jumped forward into the battle to save his Fire-users from another Dark Warrior. While Shimo was occupied, Bryant looked up at the window and spotted me. He gasped and shot straight up the wall of the palace and flew into Shimo's room, tackling me. "Where did you disappear off to, Sakura?" he asked me. "You knew I would be back for Arani on her eighth birthday. Why did you leave with that scumbag Demon Lord, Shimo?" His voice was filled with anger and annoyance. His black eyes followed me suspiciously, waiting for an answer. What I said next took up all my courage, but it was mostly anger. "You are not fit to father my child!" I shrieked. He pulled his hand back and slapped me, hard and rough. I fell to my knees. "You shouldn't have said that, whore!" Now, I was sick and tired of taking this shit from the man who was supposed to love me and my daughter. I stood up again, not bothering to hide my rage. I pulled back and put all my weight and force into the swing. It made contact, and he stumbled. I jumped up and did a spinning kick, and caught him right in the face. I winced at the cracking sound as his neck broke, which may not be deadly to a demon, but it is crippling. It takes them a while to heal from broken necks. Shimo appeared silently in the window. He thundered in, took Bryant by the waist, and threw him out the window. "Don't you ever come in here and strike my wife or my child with neither hand nor ill word again, you selfish bastard!" he yelled over the roaring wind. I smiled at the thought of being called Shimo's wife. He turned to me, calmed by my appearance. He flung his arms around me protectively, and I noticed that he was crying. He brushed my hair behind my shoulder. "Oh, Sakura, are you all right?" he whispered into my ear. He cradled me in his arms for the longest time. "Oh, God, Sakura, I was so scared. I thought I was about to lose you again, and I don't think I could spend the rest of forever without you." I pulled back to look at him. I leaned up and kissed him gently. I smiled when the kiss ended. "You know, Shimo," I started. "It's kind of hard to kiss you, 'cause I can't keep from smiling." Shimo laughed at that. Suddenly, there was a crash and a scream from Arani's bedroom. Shimo and I hurried in the door, panicked. A Dark Warrior was about to dash out the window with my little girl in his hands. Shimo hit him with a blast of fire, forcing him to fall out the window. He let go of Arani and escaped. Arani fell down the side of the wall, screaming. Shimo gave a cry and leaped out after her. He grabbed her in his arms just in time. He hit the ground, protecting Arani. A mere fall wasn't enough to kill Shimo, or even injure him that badly. But if Arani had been the one to hit the ground. "Arani, are you all right?" Shimo asked her, laying her down on the soft grass. Arani stopped crying, but she didn't answer. She just hugged Shimo tight. I smiled as Shimo returned to our room. Apparently, me and Arani were the only things the Gray Queen wanted, because as soon as both me and Arani were safe and sound in Shimo's arms, the armies of Dark Warriors fell back, and they left us alone. But the Night Palace was in complete ruin, so we had to leave early the next morning for the Morning Palace, atop Mount Morning, all the way across Japan.

"Arani, how are you feeling this morning?" I asked as we were getting up early two weeks later. She was officially eight years old, and she was now extremely comfortable with her new family, which was all of the Demon Lords and Ladies. She smiled at him. "I'm all right." Shimo grinned as he came up behind her silently. He grabbed her around her waist and swung her up onto his shoulders. She screamed in surprise and started giggling as he jumped around with her. Shimo had already started teaching her how to put her dark powers to good use. It's a good thing me and Arani left when we did, because she would be a Dark Warrior. They would have beaten the emotions out of her. She could already defend herself in a time of need. She could blast enemies away with her dark energy. She already knew how to heal herself and others using the powers she got from me.